


Rust and Blood

by burkesl17



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Nightwing (Comics)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon-Typical Violence, Implied/Referenced Underage Prostitution, M/M, References to Drugs, dick!bats
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-13
Updated: 2014-09-13
Packaged: 2018-02-17 06:33:34
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 13,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2299913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/burkesl17/pseuds/burkesl17
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Dick and Jason went undercover in an illegal fighting ring it didn't end well.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I was delighted to get to write this for a wonderful friend of mine, I do hope you enjoy it! Many thanks also to Cienna for the extremely quick and thorough beta read!

**TITLE:** Rust and Blood  
 **AUTHOR:** [](http://burkesl17.livejournal.com/profile)[**burkesl17**](http://burkesl17.livejournal.com/) / chiantirioja  
 **RECIPIENT:** [](http://miki-moo.livejournal.com/profile)[](http://miki-moo.livejournal.com/)**miki_moo** / itispossibleihaveissues  
 **PAIRING:** Bruce/Dick, Dick  & Jason  
 **RATING:** NC-17  
 **WARNINGS:** Violence, references to underage prostitution, a lot of hurt before the comfort  
 **SUMMARY:** When Dick and Jason went undercover in an illegal fighting ring it didn't end well.  
 **NOTES:** I was delighted to get to rewrite this for a wonderful friend of mine, I do hope you enjoy it! Many thanks also to Cienna for the extremely quick and thorough beta read!

NOW

Dick opened his eyes and stretched without thinking, the pain shot up his leg and left him gritting his teeth and clenching his fingers in the duvet cover. He looked around, but Bruce was long gone. If he'd slept there at all, the covers on his side weren't rumpled.

Dick pushed himself up and reached for the bottle of pain killers and glass of water on the nightstand. He swallowed a couple down and groped for his crutches. As usual maneuvering out of bed didn't really feel worth it, it took ages and just left him standing in a cold room, before he managed to get to the bathroom and then finally down to breakfast.

Each step on his bad leg down the manor's long landing and then the stairs sent hot, achey bolts of pain up his thighs, and he had to stop twice that morning to lean against the wall, before pushing onwards. There was no one there, just gloomy landscapes and oil paintings of long dead Waynes to watch him.

He was shivering by the time he got to the kitchen, and managed a half smile for Alfred as he pulled his chair out for him.

"Thanks."

"My pleasure. Your normal cereal?"

"Sure." He managed to eat a few mouthfuls as Alfred clattered around and chopped vegetables, before he said, trying to sound like it didn't matter either way, "Bruce out for the day?"

Alfred's back tensed, and the cereal in Dick's mouth suddenly became as hard to swallow as cardboard.

"I believe so, a Wayne Industries strategy presentation that was due to last all day."

Right up to the last possible minute that would give Bruce enough time to get home and suit up, Dick would bet, certainly not early enough to give them time to talk.

He didn't say that though, just let the spoon drop in the half-finished bowl and pushed himself to his feet.

"I'm going to watch some TV. Nothing else to do."

"Master Dick..."

He turned back to see Alfred standing there, his hands clenched together, and Dick just shook his head as he started to shuffle to the den.

"It doesn't matter Alfie."

THEN

Dick realised someone was following him over the Bowery, he twisted in midair and managed to land on a different ledge to the one he'd been aiming for. He glanced back but there was nothing that looked out of place, or that could account for the subtle sense of wrong he'd felt. He tapped his communicator and said, "Robin are you back at the cave yet?"

He could hear the wind outside the boy's helmet and the sound of the other traffic as Damian answered, "Ten minutes, why?"

"Nothing, just checking, Batman out."

"What...?"

He cut Damian off, cautiously swung himself up to the next ledge and edged along to the gutter. When he made a grab for the roof he saw it, just a shadow moving across the alley, something in the corner of his eye. If he hadn't been looking for it he wouldn't have seen it, whoever this was was good.

Once on the roof he faked right, leapt back the way he came and zipped across quickly before landing and running across an open roof. He jumped left and twisted across the side street, then hopped up, grabbed a gutter and pelted across the roof for a few feet before he could hide in a mass of old chimney stacks. He crouched behind on of the largest chimneys, catching his breath and grinning when he heard heavy boots land on the roof and skid a little. They were definitely good, but a bit too slow. They might have seen where he landed, but were too far behind to have caught where he was in the stacks.

Dick listened to the footsteps stop by the chimneys. Feet shuffled and Dick heard a soft pop, like a smoke bomb being broken. Smoke filled the air and he made a break for it out of the chimneys, feet thudding behind him, he spun just before the edge of the roof, raising his hand to punch the attacker in his face, and then slipped and stumbled as he realised he was about to hit Jason Todd.

"Hi Bats."

"What the hell was that? You could just have waved me over, I nearly hit you."

"Nah, you wouldn't have touched me."

Dick could hear the smirk even without seeing Jason's face under that stupid helmet, and he gritted his teeth as he said, "What do you want?"

Jason leaned back against a ventilation shaft, "Dick Grayson."

"What?"

"I have a proposition for you, something you might be interested in, but you," he waved his hand at the suit dismissively, "not the Batman."

Dick moved away from the edge carefully and said, "What do you mean?"

"You heard about that foster home down on Daily Street, the one the kids keep going missing from?" Dick nodded and Jason carried on, "Well I got a lead on where they're going. There's a fighting ring, run by a guy called Alan Stevens. It's illegal and underground obviously, no health and safety, but I think in addition to the main ring there's a sideline in fights between the kids. Possibly other things with the kids too."

"And why do you need Dick Grayson?"

"Oh drop it, no one's here." Jason jumped up and perched on the nearest chimney. "Well I've got an in, but they don't exactly trust me. I think they will if I bring someone in. Someone I can trust, and who they'll love. Bored rich kid who can still handle himself, with cash to splash betting on the fights..."

As an idea it had potential, it was certainly far more straightforward than most of the plans Jason had ever come up with before.

"I don't think I could be in the ring and not really fight though. Too many years," He waved his hand, "You know..."

"You could still be good. You being good even fits the story. You've tried karate, judo, kick boxing, every martial art money can teach you..."

"But none of them give you enough of a rush in the end..."

"And you even used to be a cop, you won't be the only ex-cop in there nothing feels right for any more."

Dick pushed up on his toes. He probably couldn't be Batman while doing that, Bruce would have to stay in Gotham, which meant Bruce would have to agree and keep an eye on Damian. Which would either be great for them or lead to the city burning down.

"Don't need permission from your boss do you?"

Dick took a deep breath and resisted snapping back that Bruce wasn't his boss, if only because of the fact that it would still be partially a lie. Instead he bit out, "I will talk to him about it. And I need to think about Robin."

It was, clearly the wrong thing to say. Jason's whole body stiffened up but there was nothing that Dick could say to make that better, so he just tensed and got ready for the jump off the roof.

"I think it's a good idea, and if what you say about the kids is true, we've got to do something." He flicked at the edge of his grappling hook, Bruce would probably be pissed, but what the hell. "So yes, I'm in. But no killing. Any killing and we're done and I'm handing you in to the cops."

Jason froze and then nodded, "I'll be in touch, newbies are being introduced next Friday."

Dick waved at him quickly and smiled as he stepped backwards, counting the steps before he said, "See you then," and jumped backwards off the roof. He curved his body over, felt the wind press into his face, he still hated how much of his skin was covered from the air and breeze. He flipped his arm out, felt the grapple catch, and then it was easy to swing round, bounce off a ledge and let his heart catch up, as he tried not to laugh.

NOW

He didn't get as far as the living room from the kitchen and ended up collapsing in one of the stale receiving rooms. There were many rooms in Wayne Manor, and this was one of the ones really only used for coats to be dumped in at parties, a place gifts Bruce had no need for to be left littering sideboards.

He flopped onto the couch and dug his fingers into his knee, trying to massage out the pain. The couch was hard, the material scratchy and the room was cold, but he couldn't face getting back up right away. He shut his eyes and listened to the rain hitting the windows, he might have slept for a while as the rain got confused with nails and pins, like hail on the roof of a church, and for a moment he was twisting loose in the wind, falling from the spire of Gotham cathedral...then there was a soft wuff and damp heat on his hand and he blinked his eyes open to see Titus looking at him.

"Hey," he reached out his hand and Titus jumped away, wagging his tail. "Sorry boy I can't play today." Titus kept wagging his tail and Dick pushed himself up, leg aching and mouth dry like it was after a fall.

As he got up he saw a photograph pushed behind an ugly vase. He tried to get to it, but misjudged the distance and knocked the vase and photograph frame down. They both smashed and Titus growled, scrabbling backwards. Dick was left looking down at his own much younger face, captured in the frame and stabbed with broken glass.

THEN

He took the bend of the road coming round into the cave as fast as possible, springing out of it and grinning at Damian, who was scratching Titus behind the ears.

"Hey Robin, and hey Bruce, you're back in town early."

"Why did you call me?" Damian asked, jumping up.

"I was being tailed, just wanted to double check it wasn't you." He smiled up at Bruce too as he walked into the light at the centre of the cave.

"Who was tailing you?" Bruce asked and Dick smiled wider. "Jason Todd, he has a proposition for me."

Predictably they both hated it and Dick ended up arguing for half an hour as he stripped off the suit, before saying, "Look I'm doing it. If you want to be harsh about it, I'm doing it for the kids, not for Jason."

Damian folded his arms and spat, "Well when he makes an obvious mistake a child could have seen, you better just hope we're around to rescue you. If we can be bothered."

Dick grinned as Bruce snapped, "Damian!" and Damian looked up with narrow aggrieved eyes and shouted back, "You think this is a stupid idea too!"

"Hey, both of you stop it. I'm going to be fine." They both looked at him, almost identical doubting, angry expressions and folded arms, and he sipped his hot chocolate, feeling the warmth flow down to his toes.

Later, after Damian had gone to bed, Bruce was still puttering about in the cave. Dick watched him from the shadows as he rubbed his hair dry from the shower. He should have been cold without his shirt on, but the heat from the shower and the chocolate still clung to him and Bruce hadn't been back from the dead so long that he'd got bored of looking at him. He'd never got bored of looking at him.

Bruce turned after a moment, and said quietly, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Dick padded over to him, trying yet again to work out how to put his feelings into words that he could say and Bruce could hear. "I'm just..." So desperately glad you're back, don't ever want to go through that again, missed you so much...

He gave up and looked down at Bruce's boots and his own socks, realised he'd put on odd ones, and blushed.

"Having second thoughts?"

He looked up, the words so different to the mess in his head they were a shock.

"What?"

"About working with Jason?"

"Oh, oh no." He felt awkward, hot in his skin, and nearly just turned to go when Bruce said, "I do think it could work, his plan. It will be dangerous though."

That just made Dick grin again, the embarrassment fleeing away as he looked into Bruce's face, "What do we do that isn't?"

And Bruce just raised his eyebrow slightly - with a look on his face that Dick had misinterpreted in the past, that a part of him was misinterpreting now - and said, his voice low and maybe slightly rueful, "Not a lot."

NOW

He tried to clean up the broken glass and shoo Titus away, but he cut his hand. He was bleeding all over the sofa and onto the picture when Titus yelped. Dick tried to struggle up, his leg went out from under him and he landed in the glass as Alfred came running in.

He looked up, and then away, unable to cope with the sad and pitying look on Alfred's face.

THEN

He warmed up in the gym before going to meet Jason and was doing pull ups on the bars before they were suddenly yanked upwards.

"Damian!"

"You're going to need to be better than that."

He managed to somersault around and threw a kick at Damian, who wasn't quite quick enough to dodge it.

"These are mostly amateur idiots out for a few kicks. They're not a threat, I'm not likely to break a sweat with most of them."

"Really?" Damian spun around and flicked the staff he was holding towards Dick's neck. Dick grabbed it and had to try and deflect the blows until he managed to reel Damian in and get him in a headlock.

"If it's really so safe Grayson, why won't you let me go in too? You said Todd thinks there are children in there, so bring me in."

"Because you can't go in as Robin and Bruce Wayne would never let his son go in."

Damian slumped slightly against him and Dick turned him round and gripped his shoulders, "You know this Damian."

"He's going to screw up."

"Maybe, but he is good. No one trained by your father isn't."

Damian muttered something that sounded like Fatgirl and Dick grinned, weirdly touched and a lot amused. "I think your crush is showing again."

"Shut up!"

The entrance to the fight club was down a grimy alley with a few bars and what claimed to be a massage parlour, with a couple of girls standing outside smoking.

Dick hunched in his coat and said, "Classy place."

"Well people might notice if it opened up in the middle of the Bowery."

Dick smirked at him, "Oh I don't know, I thought I was here because they wanted to attract the rich and vacuous."

"Maybe I made a mistake, not sure anyone wants to attract people as vacuous as you."

Jason pushed the door open and they walked into a pool hall. A few men were hunched over the tables and another couple were leaning on the bar. Jason waved at them quickly before opening what looked like a cupboard and gesturing at a narrow flight of stairs.

Dick felt the men watching him as the door shut behind him.

Walking down the steps he heard the noise first and then there was a blast of heat as Jason opened another door and they walked into the fight pit.

NOW

"Stretch your leg out for me Dick."

He pushed his leg out as far as he could, but it wasn't long before the muscles locked and the pain froze him.

"No don't force it, that's still progress."

"Not much progress."

Leslie huffed, and carefully tilted his leg to the side. Her hands were cold on his skin, and for a moment it was soothing before she moved too far and the pain started again.

"We really need to get you a proper physio. Now that the worst of the bruises have gone down we could say you got this skiing, or playing tennis. You play don't you?"

He gritted his teeth as she started to ease his leg up, sweat prickling across his forehead. "Not for a few years."

"Well it will do for a cover story." She stepped back and pushed his sweat pants back over his swollen knee. He eyed the glass of water on the coffee table and decided it wasn't worth making a grab for it.

"Dick, you do know, that sometimes this sort of injury...there's only so much you can do with physio. You might need an operation."

He was thirsty though. Drinking or moving, drinking or moving...

"Dick did you hear me? We need to talk about..."

"I heard you Lesley!" She stepped back and he forced the rush of temper back down. "I'm sorry, I know though, I do know."

Tim had looked it up, and then given Dick a carefully worded, positive summary. He'd googled it later though and the words had been reeling round his head ever since, possibly never quite the same, never quite as strong, recovery percentages...Fine maybe for someone who liked to jog, who just wanted to walk without pain, who played fucking tennis at the weekend, but for him, for Batman, Nightwing, Robin, a Flying Grayson...

Not good enough. Not good enough at all.

THEN

Alan Stevens turned out to be a shiny faced scumbag with a taste in garish ties, mismatched shirts and a huge laugh that was a just a bit too high to take seriously. He also had eyes that were a bit too sharp and flicked around the room all the time, watching the people that dismissed his clothes and looked away from his laugh.

Dick smiled broadly and shook his hand. "Quite the place you got here, I wasn't sure what to expect."

Stevens smiled broadly, a touch too eager if you were really looking.

"Well we're always glad to get a new member, especially one with...interesting tastes."

Dick just raised his eyebrow slightly and smiled through the revulsion, "Well, I do have those." He left the pause hang for a moment and then continued, "Judo, karate, taekwondo...you name it I've tried it. I'm sure Jason's filled you in."

Another greasy smile from Stevens and he leaned across the table, eyes shining. "Yeah, he has. Have to say I was surprised, Jason here knowing Bruce Wayne's ward."

He was about to launch into their cover story when Jason leaned forward and threw his arm around Dick's shoulder.

"Oh Dick and I go way back, not sure you'd believe it if I told you." His hand slid down Dick's arm, slow and slightly possessive and Dick smiled vapidly and kicked Jason under the table.

"We lost touch for a while though, that was kind of a sad story. But now I'm back in town, and it turns out Dick here is sort of slumming it."

And as he said that Jason's hand reached his waist and pulled him in, his head dropped down so his hair was just brushing Dick's neck.

Stevens grinned and said, "I didn't know your tastes ran that way, Jay. Well, we cater for everyone here." He gestured to the ring and Dick turned to see a tall black woman with dreadlocks send a man you wouldn't have looked twice at in the financial district flying with a round house kick.

They stumbled out of the club at three, leaning on each other, pretending to be slightly drunk. Dick had only been in one fight, with a twitchy little guy who telegraphed his moves. He'd let him get a few punches in though, and the one that had caught his jaw had actually hurt like a son of a bitch.

When they were in Jason's car, Dick straightened up and punched him in the arm.

"Ow! What the fuck was that for?"

"I don't remember agreeing to be your boyfriend!"

Jason sniggered and starting driving, "And now they're not going to wonder why we go home together."

"Well don't even think about kissing me."

"Hell no, that would probably be too much for some of the guys in that crowd anyway."

The car slid onto the main freeway, Jason overtook the few cars and vans still around at this time of night, and they swapped observations about the place. Dick couldn't help smiling slightly at his reflection, he'd had worse assignments.

NOW

"Grayson, you're acting like a child."

"Damian, we've been through this."

"Doctor Tompkins left strict instructions and you're not keeping to them."

Dick spun around on his crutches and glared at the boy, who stared furiously back and waved the piece of paper with the physio exercises on it.

"You are supposed to follow these..."

"I am following them!"

Damian actually took a half step back, before he scrunched up the paper and threw it at Dick. "Fine. Fine don't bother getting better, just give up. Lie around the Manor all day being pathetic. Give up being Batman, I'll be better than you anyway."

The anger rushed out of him as quickly as it had come and he just felt ashamed for shouting. He tried to call Damian back but the sounds of his footsteps were already fading as he raced away. Dick limped out after him, and tripped on his own crutches as he skidded around the corner.

He nearly went flying and he shouted as he went over on his bad leg. There was a moment of frightening pain and the ground rushing up to meet him, falling without a net, before arms caught him and set him right.

"Bruce."

He was embarrassed how breathy it sounded.

Bruce cleared his throat, seemed to suddenly realise he was stroking Dick's shoulders and snapped his hands away.

Dick lifted his hands up and pressed them against Bruce's chest for a moment, leaning in and letting him take his weight.

"No meetings today?"

"No." Bruce stepped back firmly and Dick's chest felt very tight.

"I'll go after Damian, he's probably gone to the roof."

"Tell him I'm sorry, I just snapped. Tell him I'll do the stupid exercises."

Bruce glared at him, "They're not stupid, Dick." And then he was marching down the corridor, and all Dick could do was sink back against the wall.

THEN

A few nights at the club later saw him with one arm wrapped around Jason's shoulder, and the other around Mel Young's waist. Mel's pupils were pinpricks and Dick gallantly flourished a kleenex for her to wipe the traces of powder off her nose.

She laughed, sharp like her shoulder blades, and pulled him into a crowd who slapped his shoulders, shook his hand and laughed at the fights. He spent dollar bills by the hundreds that night. Betting on the fights, between the old cops whose guts were growing, and the dead eyed ex-soldiers who threw their punches with their whole weight. He put too much money on the whip-fast Chinese girl who reminded him of Cassie, and lost all those winnings on a deliberate misjudgement in a fight between a snake hipped boy with blue hair, and a city slicker still wearing his shirt from the office.

Jason pulled him into the bathroom after that, saying loudly, "Just a bit Dick, I've got you a slot tomorrow."

He pulled out a small bag then and tipped the powder into the toilet before making a fake snorting noise on his hand. Dick rolled his eyes and played along, before Jason leaned in and breathed against his ear, "They already fucking love you, Boy Wonder keep it up." His eyes were hard though and his fingers gripped a bit too tight on Dick's wrist.

Later that night Dick got home at dawn and paused at the entrance to the Manor, as the sun licked up over the gate and the drive. He heard Bruce walk up behind him and tipped his head back against the door.

"Good night?"

"Damian stopped a warehouse robbery and we found some suspicious packages down at the docks. Looks like someone trying to smuggle in the components of Scarecrow's fear toxin."

"Go Damian." Dick turned to look at Bruce, the light was turning pink and just catching his face, the faint lines that hadn't been there before he got lost, his lips...he felt warm in a way that had nothing to do with the sun. Bruce turned towards him and for a moment they just stared at each other, before Bruce said quietly, "What is it?"

"I never thought I'd see you again."

"Here I am."

It would have been so easy to cross the few steps between them and wrap his fingers in the soft shirt Bruce was wearing, just a few strides and he could slide his leg between Bruce's, kiss him...

A few steps may as well have been a few miles and Bruce looked out into the sun and the moment was gone, but left Dick tingling and still desperate to reach out.

NOW

"So I find you at last." Dick forced a smile at Bruce from the doorway of the study and limped in to throw himself on the couch.

"I need to finish going through these accounts today. Before Damian and I go up to follow up on the toxin."

Dick curled himself up and watched Bruce typing. He was so tired all the time and his eyes started to close, but he forced them open to keep watching Bruce. There was no point trying to out stubborn the man, but there was no point to watching more TV either, which was the only thing that it felt like he could reliably achieve these days.

At some point he started falling, not flying or jumping, but really falling. Falling into the circus ring, into the fighting ring, and he was ducking punches from people he couldn't see, half blind. Then a hand was gripping his shoulder, and he reached out to smack it away, threw a kick with his bad leg and then he really was falling onto the ground and he was looking up at Bruce.

There was a moment of horrible, painful confusion before Bruce said flatly, "You were dreaming."

"Yeah, yes, I guess." Which was the smoothest possible response. He frowned and reached up his fingers to gently brush against Bruce's jaw, "I hit you, I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it." Bruce paused and started fiddling with the blanket Dick was knotted up in. "I should know better than to wake you up like that. Did you fall on your bad leg?"

"Not the knee luckily." And then Dick realised Bruce was on his knees bent right over him. It would be pretty easy to shove the blanket away and he was already on his back, legs sort of spread. Even with the nightmare still cold in his head, it was easy to smile a bit, tilt his head back, and slide his fingers into Bruce's hair.

"Hello, been awhile since we were here."

"Here?"

Bruce slid down slightly, his eyes getting dark and Dick breathed in sharply.

"You on top of me, pressing me down."

He arched his hips up a bit and Bruce ducked his head lower, Dick let his eyes fall shut because they were going to kiss, for the first time in weeks they were going to kiss. Then suddenly Bruce's leg hit his knee, and he gasped in all the wrong ways as it smacked him sharp and shattering.

For a moment Bruce froze and then he was backing away and to his feet.

"Bruce it's okay, we just need to be careful, come back here."

"It's late, I need to go on patrol."

"Bruce, wait!"

But he was gone and Dick was left on the floor, awkwardly tangled in the blanket, feeling ashamed and cold again.

THEN

Dick balanced lightly on the balls of his feet and grinned at the person opposite him. He knew what to do, a flying kick or a vicious undercut, ducking under the return and tripping him or her up, sliding across the ring and jumping up to bring his elbow down on their shoulder.

They were fights he knew he could win, fights with the crowd cheering so he made it fun. Sometimes he even tripped when he didn't have to, just to recover in a roll that bought him to his feet like a dancer.

He liked it at that point, a bit, in a way he knew he shouldn't like it. But it was kind of fun, playing to the crowd. And it was easy, few of them were real fighters or threats. In a strange, probably slightly sick way, it was more like dancing. Throwing in a cartwheel, a move you wouldn't expect.

He always made sure to lose to the big guys. All the security here, both the people he was supposed to see and the ones he wasn't, were bulky men with huge muscles. It wasn't like they posed any more threat to him than anyone else, but if this did all go wrong he wanted to know who they would send in first.

It was surprisingly good working with Jason again too. He really did fit in well with the bitter, seedy atmosphere - better, Dick had to admit, than he would have done on his own.

They had hushed conversations in the car as they sped home, keeping the windows down to blow out the smell of sweat and smoke. Dick wasn't getting very far as a shiny playboy distraction, but Jason was doing better. He was being pulled into more and more conversations with shadowy half-meanings and was getting closer to the bosses.

They'd hit a sort of, still partially awkward, equilibrium after about the first month. Had learnt each other and their cues, the bits of their cover story they were perfect on and where something in it could trip, rub like wire in a wound.

Dick had just finished a fight and was giving an elaborate bow to the crowd when the rope pressed down again and he spun around raising his fists.

Jason was opposite him, he leaned back against the road and grinned. "How about it, think you can take me?"

There was cheers and catcalls from people who thought they were together, and Dick grinned back.

"Oh, I know it."

And then it was on. Jason threw the first blow, and Dick slid underneath, he managed to clip Jason with an upper cut, but Jason just flung himself into it and they were on, struggling with each other in a beautiful, violent dance as they flew around the ring.

The sweat rolled slick down Dick's back and the world narrowed down just to this, and then swept up as Jason took his legs out from under him. They rolled on the mats for a moment, both of them trying to get on top before Dick managed to get his legs right around Jason's waist and snap them over, his arm across Jason's throat.

"I win."

"Yeah, right."

The crowd were chanting down, "Ten...nine...eight..." And the world surged again as Jason somehow managed to get out of the hold. There was a tangled moment before Dick realised he was pinned, the shouts were getting louder, "Seven...six...five...." Dick bucked his hips up and wriggled frantically as Jason yanked his hair back and pulled. He lurched and bit down hard on Jason's hand and they were off again.

He could taste blood in his mouth, could see it smeared on Jason's lips, and for a second he was thrown, what were they doing here, fighting like this? But that missed second was enough for Jason to be on him and barrelling him to the floor. His head hit the mat and his vision spun, the crowd were yelling, had got down to five, four, when Jason hissed in his ear, "Still think you're better than me, Dicky?"

It cut something fierce inside him and he managed to twist free as the crowd cheered and groaned.

There were another harsh few seconds of skin on skin, and Dick could hear the breaths Jason was gulping, smell the sweat and blood tang, and then they were on the floor and nothing Jason could do would get him free.

"Four...three...."

Dick bent down and whispered back, "It isn't a competition Jason, never has been."

"Two...one...Dick Grayson wins!"

He pushed back off Jason and staggered back to lean against the rope, victorious and exhausted and sad all at the same time, as Jason just stared at him with angry eyes.

The car journey home was awkwardly silent that night, with Jason refusing to talk or respond with more than monosyllabic answers. When they got to the Manor Dick tried once more but just got brushed off, "We've both got bruises. I'll see you the day after tomorrow."

Dick watched the car go and shifted anxiously on the balls of his feet before heading down to the cave.

He still felt slightly punchy, if he'd finished a night on patrol like this he would have taken the long way home, swinging around buildings and rooftops just because he could. But he couldn't go out now, the bruises were starting to hurt and flying would only make them worse.

Bruce was still up, tapping away at the keyboard and Dick walked stiffly across to the medicine cabinet.

"Hey Bruce."

Bruce turned and raised an eyebrow at him, "Who did that?"

Dick got as far as the gurney and shrugged, "Jason."

"What happened?"

"Relax, he just got in the ring. I'd say we were just fighting for show, but if he meant it to start off that way it changed pretty quickly," He turned and grinned at Bruce, "I still won though."

Bruce stood and stared at him hard, looking him up and down. "Do you think you've been compromised?"

"No, we'll be fine. Think it just bought some stuff up to the surface for him. Is Alfred still up?"

Bruce shook his eye and said, "I can help you."

"You don't have to."

"You're moving stiffly. Take your shirt off. I want to see if you have a cracked rib."

Dick rolled his eyes and said, "I think I'd know if I had a cracked rib. He didn't hit that hard." But he pulled his shirt off anyway and shivered in the cold air of the cave.

Bruce's hands curved around his sides and pressed against the bruises. His fingers slid over Dick's ribs, and Dick breathed in sharply.

"Does that hurt?"

"Not that much."

It would be helpful if it hurt more. Bruce's fingers were just too gentle to feel like a doctor's and there was too much mad adrenalin and heat flushed through his body.

"I think you're fine."

He swallowed, tried to laugh back the inappropriate response, 'oh yes I know you're fine' and think of something, anything to say.

But all the stupid quips in the world failed when he looked up at Bruce and saw the expression on his face, the heat in his dark eyes.

And he shouldn't do it, it would change everything and possibly burn and break it, but Dick had been living in a world where Bruce was dead not very long ago. Now in the cave, with his hands on his skin, it was the only possible thing he could do.

So he pushed himself up, closer to Bruce, and whispered softly, "I'm going to do something very stupid now. If it helps later, just pretend he hit me very hard in the head."

And then he kissed Bruce. For a moment Bruce didn't respond and Dick nearly backed away, but then Bruce suddenly grabbed his head and kissed him back. Deep, and passionate and Dick slid forward in surprise between Bruce's legs.

He kissed back, his whole body starting to tingle. He'd laugh if that hadn't meant they need to stop kissing, God this was joyous.

They clutched at each other as they kissed and Dick smiled as they drew apart gasping for a moment and tangled his hand in Bruce's hair.

"Dick, what..."

"Shhh...we'll only mess it up if we talk. Just keep kissing me."

"I..."

So Dick kissed him again, bit at his mouth and Bruce melted against him. Pulled him so they were pressed right together and Dick groaned as he felt how hard Bruce was.

It made Bruce gasp too and their kisses were getting messier, and Dick's head spun as he struggled to stand up. Bruce pushed him back against the gurney but its wheels spun and it crashed against the wall.

Dick laughed, tilting his head back and Bruce began to kiss his neck, which made Dick's fingers tighten on his shoulders and moan, "Oh, I like that."

Bruce lifted his head and Dick brushed his fingers against his red lips. Bruce licked the tips of them before saying, "Do you, do you want this?"

And that made Dick laugh again, turn them around and push Bruce back against the bed.

"I've wanted it for a long time. But we can talk later, for now, let's just have it."

Bruce half smiled and stroked his hand down across Dick's face before settling on his collar bone.

"You always want to talk."

He did, there was so much to say, but it would come out wrong and Bruce would say the wrong thing too, and there were so many bad places it could go. So he just pressed his face into Bruce's neck, licked at his pulse and kissed down, slid his hands under Bruce's shirt and murmured, "Do you want it?"

Bruce shuddered as Dick pressed his leg against Bruce's cock, "Since long before I should have."

Which was probably creepy, but Dick didn't care, he just felt the joy of it as he replied, "Then let's talk like this."

There was more kissing for a bit, and then Dick was helping Bruce pull his shirt off and there was all this skin for him to rub against, to press his hands over Bruce's abs, drag his nails down Bruce's spine and to feel the heat stirring up inside them. Bruce gasped and hissed softly, and started pressing his cock against Dick.

Bruce grabbed his ass and pulled him closer, and Dick grinned because his lovers always did that and God it felt good. He shoved against Bruce squirming against him and Bruce actually moaned.

Dick shook his head, he wanted everything, everything they could possibly do, but they couldn't keep this up forever, the heat was too urgent. Bruce looked at him, met his eyes, and Dick sunk down to his knees.

"Dick..." Bruce's fingers were trembling slightly as they touched his hair, his mouth and Dick kissed them before he pushed Bruce's pants over his hips. He smiled again, laughed slightly, because he loved doing this, oral sex was amazing and he sucked around Bruce through the cloth of his boxers.

The hand in his hair tightened and Dick shoved Bruce's underwear down, and then he had Bruce's dick in his hand. He had to look up, and Bruce was biting his lip, his eyes were bright and fixed on him and Dick smiled and held his gaze as he began to lick around the head.

He let his eyes fall shut though as he sucked Bruce in properly, sunk down and then back up, sunk into it. Bruce didn't make much noise, just little gasps, but one of his hands was clasping the side of the gurney so hard his knuckles were white, and the other was stroking over Dick's hair like he wanted to push down but didn't quite dare.

Dick took him in, used one hand to help, and the other to squeeze Bruce's hip to anchor himself. His own cock ached, but that could be dealt with later, for now there was just this weight in his mouth and throat and the heat in his hand.

It didn't take much longer, Bruce's breath sped up, his hand pressed against Dick's cheek to feel the cock in his mouth, and then he groaned, "Dick, I'm going to come."

He was almost disappointed it was so good doing this, but then Bruce actually did cry out, and the fingers in his hair pulled and he pulled up a bit and Bruce came in his mouth over his tongue and down his throat.

Dick pulled back and dropped his head on Bruce's stomach, feeling the scratch of his hair against his chin and smelling saliva and come. He was gasping and let his fingers get slowly gentler against Bruce's cock until he felt Bruce's hand stop them and then tilt his face up.

"Come, come up here."

He pushed up straight away but his whole body was shaking, his knees didn't want to hold him up, and Bruce had to take his weight as they kissed sloppily and Dick moaned, "Bruce, Bruce, please..."

They pushed down the sweatpants he was wearing and Bruce pulled back enough to throw the blanket from the gurney on the floor. He pulled Dick down with him and grasped his cock, stroking softly at first until Dick pressed his head into chest and said, "God, don't tease me."

"What do you want? I can suck you too, is that what you'd like?"

And that voice slid hot down his spine and he wrapped one leg over Bruce's hip and moaned, because yes he wanted that, but he wanted this too, with one of Bruce's arms around him and the other hot on his cock. And he also wanted Bruce inside, to be inside Bruce, and for Bruce to talk like that again. And it was all too much so he just moaned and pressed his face into Bruce's chest, and said, "This, fuck, just this, don't stop or move, just finish me like this, fuck Bruce..."

He cried out as Bruce rolled them using his free hand to cushion his head, and used his mouth on Dick's neck, his chest, coming up to kiss him again, his hand moving faster, until all Dick could do was cry out and keen, and come hopelessly and brilliantly between them.

Bruce sank down then, tucking Dick tight against him as Dick sleepily shut his eyes and just basked in it, in the heat and warmth between them.

After a minute of them breathing together, Bruce shifted up and stroked Dick's hair back from his face and smiled in a soft way Dick hadn't expected.

"We can't sleep here."

Dick shrugged and stretched, not prepared to admit yet the floor was getting uncomfortable. "I don't want to move."

Bruce bent his head and kissed him again, sweeter this time and Dick moaned softly.

"I think you have to."

Dick curled his fingers around Bruce's hip, dragged his hand down to squeeze his ass, which was, God, gorgeous. He sighed regretfully and kissed Bruce's shoulder before making himself kneel up, and then he smiled as he saw Bruce look at the come on his abdomen, bright against the bruises starting to go dark.

"Take me to your bed then. I'm sure it's bigger than mine."

Bruce looked up at him seriously, and Dick felt something nervously tighten in his chest at the expression in them.

"Dick, we do have to talk about this, what is...what is it that you want?"

The moment had got away from him, it suddenly felt unbearably fragile, and Dick reached out with his hand and gently cupped Bruce's jaw.

"You, this, us. I've wanted us to be an us for a long time. Sometimes I thought you saw me looking at you and looked back, but most of the time I thought that couldn't ever happen. I know there's a lot we should talk about, that we should get cleared up, but simply, I want us."

It felt like an age, a long, slow drawn out moment where the world stopped before Bruce tilted his head into Dick's palm and kissed it.

"It's probably a terrible idea, almost as bad as you, Jason and the fight ring."

"And we don't even have the excuse of kids to save. It might not be terrible you know."

Bruce looked up from where he was brushing his lips along the lines of Dick's palm and smiled slightly. "It might not."

He pushed himself to his feet and held out his hand, "Come to bed, Dick."


	2. Chapter 2

NOW

The next day when Dick woke up the bedroom was cold again. He didn't even bother to roll over and see if Bruce was still there, just turning his head was enough to see the pillow was pristine, the sheets were completely straight.

It didn't sound like it was raining, but the wind was howling around the Manor walls and seemed to find every gap and crack in the old house.

Dick pulled the blankets tighter around him, but it still wasn't warm. He'd been dreaming, fuzzy, half-thought dreams he couldn't remember, but had involved heat of some kind.

They'd left a tingling between his legs, and he slid his hand down and experimentally tugged at his cock. It didn't actually do much. His leg hurt too much, it was too damn cold, and by the time he gave up in frustration he was still only half hard with an aching wrist.

He closed his eyes against the daylight and smacked his head against the pillow. He hadn't been hard since the day everything had gone wrong at the fight club and not even being able to masturbate was a wretchedly new low.

It clearly wasn't happening today though, and with a last glance at Bruce's empty side of the bed, he dragged himself up to start the trek to the kitchen.

THEN

Dick thought he'd beaten Jason to the club that day, and was leaning on the bar smiling vacantly at some guy who'd given his name as Mike but was clearly lying. Mike was more interested in betting on the fights than taking part, and was trying to get Dick's thoughts on the 'evening's entertainment' as he put it. He licked his lips quickly every time he said entertainment and Dick beamed in relief as Jason appeared suddenly out of nowhere, grabbed his elbow and steered him into the crowd.

He pushed Dick up against a wall and crowded into his space as he pushed a beer into his hand.

"I think we're in."

"In?"

"Yeah, the inner sanctum, or whatever the fuck they call it." His fingers tightened over Dick's on the bottle. "I think we're going to see what we came here for."

Dick took a deep breath and straightened up. He squeezed Jason's shoulder and looked him in the eye. "Are you ready?"

Jason just nodded grimly, "You're the one with the bleeding heart."

Dick shook his head quickly and pulled away. "You don't need to protest so much."

Jason glared at him. He still had a black eye from where they'd fought. "Nothing to protest. Now follow me."

They'd already worked out where the probable entrance to another room was, and Dick smiled grimly as Jason moved towards and nodded once to the big guy leaning beside it.

The door slammed behind them and the sound of the main room was shut out, leaving them in a quiet corridor with flickering strip lighting. Neither of them spoke as they walked down it and through another door. On the other side were two huge security guards who let them into another large room.

If Dick hadn't been expecting it he never would have been able to keep what he was really feeling off his face. This room was much quieter than the jostling chaos of the main hall. The people watching the ring were mostly sitting at scattered tables, and a woman sitting near them was calmly chopping up lines of coke on a mirror.

There was no music, their eyes were cold, and those that bothered to look at Dick and Jason were clearly assessing them.

But Dick had seen cruel eyed people and he'd seen drugs, what shook him was the kids in the ring. And they were kids. The girl looked slightly older, she might have even been fourteen, she had a snake tattoo wrapping around her arm that matched the bull whip she was flicking against her boot. A horrible yellow bruise was smeared across her face.

The boy opposite her was also rake thin and he had scratches on his arm and face, like someone had clawed him.

As they watched the girl jumped forward with a shriek, the whip cracking and the boy tried to get underneath it but was too slow and it snapped down on his shoulder. A murmur went around the watchers and a few people held up their hands. More skinny, bruised kids appeared from the sides of the room and took the bets.

"Jason! And Dick! So glad to bring you're here at last, where the real action is."

Alan Stevens' loud shirt and tie were the brightest things in the room and Dick managed to smile, shake his hand and say, "It sure is."

"Not to everyone's taste of course, but to those with open minds so much fun to be had."

Dick nodded, and let Stevens pull him across the room to a chalk board with names and odds scrawled on it. 

"You'll get to know all our kids eventually, just keep an eye on the odds..."

There was a sharp cry from the ring and Dick turned to see the boy on his knees, the girl had the whip wrapped around his neck.

"That was great Rosy! That's my girl!"

Stevens cheered the girl who dropped the whip and stepped back, barely looking at anyone as she hopped over the ropes and ducked through the crowd.

Dick turned to Jason, and squeezed his arm when he saw the expression on his face.

"Quite something isn't it, Jay?"

Jason turned to him slowly, and then he smiled a horrible smile and said, "Everything that was promised."

"Excellent, excellent! Now, boys, a few house rules. It's not cheap feeding and training these kids, you wouldn't believe how much they eat, so the cover charge has gone up a bit. Also extras are not exactly on the house if you get my drift, but the booze is."

Stevens' eyes narrowed, his smile went thin, and he wrapped his arms around their shoulders. Dick resisted the urge to duck away, "But while the extras aren't free they're also easy to arrange. Just ask Candy over there." He pointed to a tall, thin woman in a sharp grey dress who was surveying the room coldly. "We all clear?"

Dick had to swallow before he could speak, but he managed eventually.

"Crystal."

When they walked out of the club later Jason didn't drive them straight to the Manor, but he pulled up on the side of the road when they were outside the city limits.

Dick didn't want to talk for once, he felt filthy, like the place had tarnished something under his skin, but he made himself turn towards Jason. Jason had his head on his arms, leaning on the steering wheel, but he pushed himself up as Dick looked at him and hit the wheel, smacking the horn as hard as could and yelling, "Fuck!"

"Jason..."

Jason shoved the door open and got out, kicked the wheel and swore again, before he smashed his fist into the windshield. Dick jumped out of the car and ran around it, pinning Jason's hands to his sides.

"Jason! Jason, listen to me. Listen!"

Dick rubbed his hands up and down Jason's arms.

"It was disgusting. It was fucking terrible, but bashing up the car and smashing up your fist isn't going to help them."

Jason relaxed slightly and Dick backed away, keeping one hand on Jason's shoulder.

"We're going to get them Jay. Not just Stevens, or that Candy woman, but the people behind this, every single one of them. We're going to take them down."

Jason turned to look at him and said slowly, "They don't deserve jail."

"Yes they do. They pimp out kids, they're the ones other criminals use to feel better about who they are, prison is going to be hell on them. And we're going to put them there."

Jason's fists clenched and Dick shifted slightly, not sure if he was going to get punched in the face. But Jason just moved out of his grasp and sat down in the driver's seat and turned on the engine.

"Jason?"

"Just get in the car Dick."

When he got home from the Manor the lights were out everywhere again, and he slipped up to Bruce's room as quietly as he could. He told himself it was almost on the way to where he slept, so it wasn't really creepy to hover and try and see if Bruce was still up.

There was a faint light still on and Dick rapped the door lightly, quiet enough to sleep through, but he heard the bed creak and Bruce's voice say, "Yes?"

Despite the horrors of the night he couldn't quite tap down the giddiness in his stomach as he replied, "It's me," and pushed the door open.

The door creaked too, and to Dick it seemed loud enough to wake the whole house as it moved and he locked behind him.

Bruce was shirtless in bed, his hair still wet from the shower, and Dick took two steps towards him without even thinking about it.

Bruce actually looked slightly amused for a moment and he sat up straighter, the sheets slid down to his waist and Dick watched them go and the skin they revealed.

They still hadn't really talked much about what they were doing, and Dick was varying between thinking they'd got that settled down in the cave and that it was all going to blow up in their faces.

Especially as he hadn't quite worked out how to get the words out about that to anyone else. He wanted to shout it from every roof top in Gotham, but he also didn't want to have to deal with everyone else's reactions. He couldn't bear the thought that one of them might say it was wrong.

But all that felt small and irrelevant after the misery he'd seen tonight and he forced himself to smile at Bruce and say, "I was hoping to use your shower."

Bruce raised an eyebrow and said in a low voice, "You have your own."

"Hmm...I do..." He began to unbutton his shirt and watched Bruce watch him. "But you know, the water pressure isn't quite as good as yours, the water isn't quite as hot...you're not in it..."

That got him an actual smile and he started on his pants. Bruce shifted in the bed and said, "I've already showered."

"You can never be too clean."

He walked naked towards the bathroom and started the water. Steam quickly filled the room and he ducked under the spray. It was almost too hot and he dropped his head against the tiles, picturing the water washing the grime and filth of that place off his skin.

He jumped slightly as Bruce moved into the shower room and then melted as Bruce squeezed the back of his neck.

"Dick?"

"I'm fine."

"Really?"

He turned around and pressed his hands over Bruce's chest, just drinking in the solid, adult reality of him. It was easier to tell him here, in the shower room only just big enough for the two of them, the sound of the water almost drowning out his voice, and the steam fogging the glass.

Bruce slipped his arms round him when he was done and washed the shampoo out of his hair.

When Dick was towelling himself dry, Bruce leaned on the bathroom door frame and said awkwardly, "We could go down to the cave now, start looking for the money men." 

Dick thought about it for a second, but shook his head and said, "Tomorrow is soon enough. I'm too tired now to make much sense of it all now."

Bruce looked down and nodded. His voice was low as he said quietly, "How tired?"

Dick managed to smile as he walked into Bruce's arms.

"Not that tired."

And it was so hot in Bruce's arms, in his bed, the sheets pulled over them both. And Bruce's mouth was hot and slick round his cock, the fingers inside set him on fire, and then there was nothing else as Bruce's cock pressed into him.

Dick wrapped one of his hands around the bed post and used the other to frantically clutch at Bruce's shoulder, his back, his arm. He needed something to ground him.

But Bruce kept pushing in and Dick cried out helplessly as the pleasure soaked through him. He pushed his legs up higher, and that was the perfect angle as Bruce moved faster and harder, gasping every time he thrust.

The heat built with the pleasure and they stopped being able to kiss as it got too hot and too desperate. Dick arched back, open and lost in it, in the pain tinged pleasure, the expression on Bruce's face and in his eyes.

But then it was too much, he let go of the headboard to grab his cock, it made him tighten up and Bruce groaned out, "Dick come, come now, I need you to. Come now."

It was Bruce's voice that sent him over the edge, crying out as the pleasure took him.

They curled together afterwards and he fell asleep to the feeling of Bruce's hand gently stroking his hair back from his face.

NOW

Dick had managed to get down to the Cave and had eased himself into Bruce's chair. He watched the trackers move across Gotham, Steph was in the Jewellery Quarter, Damian was moving towards her, and Bruce...Dick narrowed his eyes. Bruce was in the docks on completely the other side of the city to Damian.

He looked for Tim's signal and realised where he was just as the door to the cave opened and he heard a motorbike.

"Dick, I wasn't expecting to see you down here."

"First time down since it's happened."

He looked hard at Tim, who didn't look upset or overly worried, but who was clearly tense.

"What's up?" 

"Well..."

"Tim..."

"Bruce has tracked down Jason."

"I didn't know he was missing." Admittedly he hadn't really asked since one blurry, concussion fogged conversation with Bruce at the hospital, but part of him hadn't really wanted to face Jason. Even though he knew he really needed to say sorry.

"Well, yeah. He wasn't exactly just going to show up because of what he did to you."

"What he did to me?"

Tim was starting to look really worried as he said slowly, "It was his fault, wasn't it? We thought he sold you out?"

Dick stared at him for a moment and then shouted, "No!" 

THEN

After two days with passes to the backrooms and betting on kids, those poor wretched kids, they were both tense and tired as hell.

It was exhausting pretending, and pretending not to be sick and furious at the disgusting people he was being forced to spend his time with. The sight of the children's big hollow eyes and bruised scarred bodies was more than enough to wipe any entertainment or shine out of being in the ring.

He was constantly holding back Jason too. Jason had sunk in on himself, his smiles were too thin or too wide and Dick was constantly worried he was going to give them away. At first he'd reached for Jason's wrist or shoulder when he thought it was getting too much, but Jason's face had closed down even more when he'd tried it so he'd given up.

They were making polite conversation between fights, or Dick was and Jason was pretending to listen anyway, when Stevens came up to them. He clapped his hands on their shoulders and Dick felt his fingers dig into his collar bone.

"Sorry Ellie, but I've got to steal these boys for a minute. We won't be long. Dick, Jason, come with me."

They followed him out of the kid's fighting room and Dick glanced at Jason and raised his eyebrows. Jason shrugged back as the corridors took them further underground.

Finally Stevens stopped and typed in a code on a door, it hissed open and before he went through he said, "You wanted to meet the boss, Jason? Well turns out he wants to meet you too."

Jason smiled and said tightly, "My lucky day."

Stevens smiled too, but Dick could see the sweat on his forehead and the ring he was nervously rolling in his hand.

"Well come through. He doesn't like to be kept waiting."

They walked through and Dick's heart sunk. Because the man sitting at the desk opposite him was Black Mask.

There were six other men in the room too, all armed by the look of it and Dick tried to force his face into an expression of polite confusion.

Black Mask stared back at him and said, "Get out of here, Stevens."

When the door had shut he looked back at them.

"Do you know who I am?"

For a moment Dick had no idea whether a normal Dick Grayson would know who he was, but Jason replied and said dryly, "Black Mask."

"Then do you know my reputation Todd? I assume your rich boyfriend here generally moves in different circles, when he's not slumming it down here with us."

"I know who you are."

Sadonis leaned over the desk and glared at them. "Then you'll also know I'm a business man and as a business man, I'm one who prides himself on knowing every bit of his empire. And this bit of my empire isn't making the money it should."

Dick shifted slightly, biting down the panic. If they'd been made, if of all people Roman Sadonis knew that he was Batman they were completely and utterly screwed. Not just them, but the whole of his family. 

"So I sent some of my boys down here to take a look, and they did find interesting things. They found you."

Black Mask would be armed too. That was seven against two and the odds were good they'd be riddled with bullets before the first punch.

"You, Dick Grayson, and your cheap shit boyfriend."

"Hey!"

"Shut up, Todd. You know what is interesting about you, Grayson. You're very good and you're spending a lot of money and you're losing fights you should win. I got my boys to watch you and you're choosing which fights you lose."

Black Mask got up from the desk and walked around the desk so the two of them were face to face.

"You're throwing fights. I think you're betting on which fights you lose."

"No, I'm not."

"You are. And you're going to learn the hard way about trying to get the better of me. Take them down boys."

Dick just had enough time to get his arm over his face before they started hitting him.

The hitting didn't stop for a while, and then there was kicking. He fought back but there were just too many of them, and some horrible blood and pain filled time later he was chucked in a cell with Jason.

Jason instantly stood up and started pounding on the door and shouting, while Dick lay there and tried to get his breath back, before Jason slumped back for a minute.

"Stop it Jason. Do you want them to come back?"

"I want to get the fuck out of here. Black Mask? Of all the...."

"And where would you have come across Black Mask before, Jason?" Dick said warningly.

Jason glared at him and then winced and pressed his hand to his eye.

"Fucking thugs."

Dick shrugged and then sighed as he looked at his bruised hand, before he bit down hard on the thin bit of skin before his fingers and thumb.

"Dick. What the fuck?"

Dick made a slicing motion with his free hand to shut him up and ground down on the tiny metal alarm embedded there.

Blood filled his mouth, but then he felt it crack inside. He tasted the metal and spat the remains of it on the floor.

Jason looked over and nodded before raising his eyebrows and tilting his head. Dick guessed he was asking how long, but he had no idea. He had no idea where Bruce and Damian were even patrolling tonight. They could be miles away. 

Jason shuffled closer to him across the floor and put his hand on his arm. "You okay?"

"I'll live. You?"

"Had worse."

Dick pressed their shoulders together and closed his eyes.

About ten minutes later the door slammed open and Dick looked up, desperately hoping to see Batman, but it was just another man with a gun. He waved it at them and they followed him up to the main room.

When they'd thrown him down he'd jarred his knee, and it sent a rush of heat up and down his leg every time he stepped on it. The walk seemed to last forever and then suddenly they were back in the main room. It wasn't noisy like before though.

It was still boiling hot, but almost completely silent as they were jostled through. Some people stared at them, others looked at their own feet as they were pushed up into the ring. 

There were five men in there already, the sort with upper arms as big as Dick's head. 

They were dragged up into the ring and stumbled together, as Stevens suddenly appeared and started talking about them, what they'd apparently been doing, how they'd been undermining the whole spirit of the place by throwing fights. There was even some stuff in there about how it wasn't noble and Dick gritted his teeth.

He and Jason edged closer together and slid back to back into their fighting stances. Stevens had just got the point, saying, "So their sentence is to keep fighting, take on everyone who wants a hit, as many at a time as can fit in the ring. And if they're still standing at the end we'll let them go."

He held up a little bell to start the fight, but Jason just shouted, "Fuck that," and threw a punch at the closest guard.

There was a moment of confusion and Dick sprung forward to take out one of the guys on his side, but it wasn't quite enough and they were soon fighting in a spinning, whirling crowd. 

Individually he and Jason were both better than any of these guys, even out-numbered they could have taken the majority of them out, but there were just too many and there wasn't enough room. Dodging one attack just threw them into the fist or kick of another and they were soon pressed back to back just struggling to stay alive.

Dick looked around frantically, for anything he could potentially use, but the ceiling was too high to jump to, and the guards didn't have any weapons aside from their fists and heavy boots.

One of them managed to grab his shoulder and send him spinning into the net. He pushed quickly round and shouted Jason's name as one of the men slammed his elbow down between Jason's shoulder blades.

Jason tripped and fell to his knees and Dick managed to stumble over to him and protect him against the kick that was aimed at his neck.

They just had to hold on, Bruce and Damian had to be close, they couldn't be that far away now. Someone grabbed him from behind but breaking the hold pushed him towards another man who slammed their knee into his stomach, someone kicked hard at his injured knee and the blast of pain sent him toppling down onto the floor.

Jason was trying to get up, but another vicious kick kept him down and a boot in the back sent him falling forward onto his face. Dick reached out to try and grab his hand, his vision blurring, as something smacked into his head.

Dick spat out blood and a tooth, and managed to grab Jason's fingers, who squeezed Dick's back. Jason turned back to look at him and Dick gasped out, "Hold on, Jay." His brother nodded, leaving a red smear behind him on the mat.

The men were laughing now, the crowd cheering, and one of them grabbed Dick's leg. He tried to pull it back but the man twisted and splitting hot pain like being shot, smashed through it.

He knew he screamed and Jason squeezed his hand tight, he was shouting something, but as Dick sagged down he couldn't hear it or see past the terrible pain in his leg.

Then it suddenly went dark. For a moment it was completely pitch black and the crowd began to shift and mutter uncertainly. And even through the pain Dick could smile in the darkness.

He dragged himself slightly closer to Jason and even managed to drop his free hand on Jason's shoulder and say, "Told you."

There was the faintest sound of air and material, a tiny click of plastic and metal, and as the back-up generator whirred to life and dim lights came on, Dick saw Bruce standing over them both.

He wanted to laugh, say something ridiculous, but instead he just watched Bruce land blow after blow, and Damian dive in too. He floated down from a light fitting and wrapped his legs around a man's neck, dragging him down for Bruce to land a knock out punch.

The crowd were screaming and there were sounds of fighting and yelling. Dick caught a glimpse of Stephanie's bright hair and then Tim landed lightly beside them.

Dick realised he could hardly speak now, his head was swimming and the pain was trying to swallow him up, but he made a grab for Tim's cloak and pulled him down.

"Black Mask, Black Mask is behind it. Look for a door to the left, looks like a cleaner's cupboard. Papers, files, everything down there. Careful, guards..."

He dropped his hand and Tim nodded, "You got it. Robin, with me!"

He saw Damian summersault away from the guy he'd just slammed in the nuts and heard him talking back to Tim, but the words weren't clear, and his eyes were going dark. He managed to turn his head to see Jason but his eyes were shutting too. Dick kept holding his hand, and the last thing he saw before the blackness took him was the swirl of Bruce's cape above them. 

NOW 

Tim stared back after he shouted and said cautiously, "So it wasn't Jason's fault?"

"Of course not, look it just, it was my fault as much as his. More probably as I was the one who couldn't resist showing off a bit."

"Bruce seemed to think that's what you said at the hospital, and it fit with what we found..."

"It fit with what you expected from Jason."

Tim blushed and looked at his feet, and Dick grabbed his crutches as he stood up.

"What's happening tonight?"

"Bruce thinks Jason is monitoring the docks, there's a shipment of guns which should be coming in tonight. He was going to go up there and confront him."

"Oh and that's going to go well."

Dick started limping quickly towards the cabinet in his cave where his suits were kept.

"Dick what are you doing?"

"I'm going to find them, before one or both of them does something they really regret."

"You can't even walk."

Dick typed in the code and the door hissed open, showing his Batsuits, a couple of Nightwing ones and even an old Robin costume.

"I can ride a motorbike though. And all I have done for weeks now Tim is lurk around the Manor feeling sorry for myself and complaining. And this is the result. Now are you going to help me?"

"No! You're being crazy! I'll go and explain what you told me."

"Yes, because seeing you will calm Jason right down."

He picked out a Nightwing one and started stripping off his clothes.

"And why are you wearing that?"

"Because it's lighter and I don't have to worry about the cape wrapping around my leg. You're going to have to help me get it on over the bandages."

Tim sighed and started to help him pull it on.

"I really don't like this."

"No one likes anything about this. But that's just tough."

When it was on he bounced on his good leg and stretched, getting used to the feel of it again. Getting it on over his knee had hurt like hell, but now it was on it was actually quite supportive.

He made his way over to his bike and struggled onto it, ignoring Tim's glaring.

"I'm coming with you, as far as the docks anyway."

"Fine, pass me my helmet."

Riding the bike hurt but it was also freedom. The air flew past him as he bent double, over took Tim and cut between cars.

His headset crackled and suddenly Bab's voice filled the helmet and it just made him smile more.

"Nightwing, a surprise to see you out tonight."

She sounded pissed and Dick replied, "You haven't heard? I have some idiots to get in line."

"You really think you should be doing this?"

"Nope, but there's not much choice."

She tried to talk him out of it most of the way to the docks, but then he was there, the bike sliding through shipping containers until Tim pulled up and pointed at a couple stacked on top of each other.

"They're up there."

"Gotta go O, see you soon."

He took off the helmet and stumbled off the bike. 

"Stay here Red Robin, unless I signal for you."

Tim and sighed and sat down on a crate. "You know you're much less intimidating in that costume."

"But I'm a damn sight cuter."

Dick looked up and sent the grapple to the top of the container, he gripped it tight and let it carry him up, and for a moment he was weightless and soaring again.

He landed clunkily, and had to scrabble onto the next container . He could see Bruce and Jason, they weren't far and there was no way they wouldn't have heard him, but they were yelling at each other instead of paying attention.

Dick yelled, "Hey!" But neither of them responded to him and Bruce started to pull himself into a defensive stance as Jason pushed forward.

Dick glared and sent a wingding clattering between them.

They both jumped and the looks of shock on their faces was a joy to behold.

He limped towards them and snapped, "Both of you stop this."

Jason opened his mouth, but Dick held out his hand and turned to Bruce first.

"This wasn't Jason's fault. I don't know what you think happened, but he didn't sell me out, or make some idiot mistake. I know I was there."

Bruce's face gave nothing away and Dick stepped closer to him.

"It was as much my fault as his, so you can stop blaming him. And stop blaming yourself, there was nothing you could have done. And hell, stop blaming me too, it happened, it's over, we got the damn bad guys and those kids are safe."

He whirled around and pointed at Jason who was starting to smirk, "And you, stop always assuming the worst about what we think of you. Not every question is an accusation, if you'd just told the full story in the hospital instead of getting defensive we could have avoided this."

Turning back to Bruce, who looked - possibly - slightly calmer he said, "And you stop running away from me. I'm not a failure you can't stand to look at. Things went wrong - they've gone wrong for you before and they'll go wrong again. So let's just put this behind us. I'll speak to Lesley about the operation and you'll stop treating me like I have the plague, deal?"

He dropped his hand on Bruce's chest. Bruce stared down at him and Jason suddenly said, "Oh no, that's gross, are you guys..." he waved a hand at them, "doing...together now? Because you know that's creepy right?"

Dick glared at him, "Yes we are and no it's not."

He felt the tension run through Bruce's body and he looked up at him, a cold feeling tightening in his chest, as he thought that perhaps they weren't now. They hadn't ever talked about it properly, and they hadn't even really kissed since it happened, and he had a horrible feeling he was about to get his heart smashed and broken.

But then Bruce nodded. Just once, but he nodded, and the cold in Dick's chest dissolved into warmth.

He looked back at Jason, who looked pretty disturbed and said, "Weird. Although I get why you didn't like the boyfriend thing now."

Bruce snapped, "What boyfriend thing?"

Dick quickly talked over him and tried to surreptitiously shake his head at Jason.

"So we're all good right? Cleared the air? No punching each other tonight?"

Bruce squeezed his shoulder and Dick dropped his head against his hand as Jason said slightly sulkily, "Clear."

"Right." Dick looked and smiled, "Now will you guys help me down off this roof."

The end


End file.
